Tens of thousands of people were persecuted and put to death as witches between 1400 and 1700 - the great age of witch hunts. Why did the witch hunts arise, flourish and decline during this period? What purpose did the persecutions serve? Who was accused, and what was the role of magic in the hunts? This important reassessment of witch panics and persecutions in Europeand colonial America both challenges and enhances existing interpretations of the phenomenon. Locating its origins 400 years earlier in the growing perception of threats to Western Christendom, Robert Thurston outlines the development of a 'persecuting society' in which campaigns against scapegoats such as heretics, Jews, lepers and homosexuals set the scene for the later witch hunts.

He examines the creation of the witch stereotype and looks at how the early trials and hunts evolved, with the shift from accusatory to inquisitorial court procedures and reliance upon confessions leading to the increasing use of torture.

This highly readable account provides an extensive overview of witch-hunting in Europe and North America.

About the Author

Robert Thurston is Professor of History at the Universityof Miami.

Reviews

"comprehensive account of one of the most malign periods in Eureopean history" - Glasgow Herald

`Lively and readable. It is written in a style as personal and attractive as any I have encountered...It has just the right balance of magisterial detachment and personal insight.'

Ronald Hutton, Universityof Bristol

6 page feature article on book in History Today, November 2006

Book Information
ISBN 9781405840835
Author Robert Thurston
Format Paperback
Page Count 368
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 400g